On Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2025’s closing night, and Virginia Gay’s last in the role of Artistic Director, the traditional late night show was appropriately called 25th Birthday Party, celebrating the festival’s 25 years. The late night shows have become a beloved staple of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival: loose, wild, variety-style performances that cap off the day with laughter and surprise.
Virginia Gay opens the party appearing not in stage but from the curtained entrance we’d all entered the banquet room by. Dripping with sex appeal in a spaghetti strapped, satiny dress, Virginia delivered a very sexy take on The Beatles’ Why don’t we do it on the road adapted to why don’t we do it in the aisles, why don’t we do it on the stage etc. She moved through the crowd, tussling audience members’ hair, getting up close and personal and even straddling one shocked audience member. It was most definitely a memorable entrance.
For the unfamiliar these late night shows at Adelaide Cabaret Festival feature a variety of acts both from the festival and not. Saturday night’s show was no different. The first guest appearance was by Gillian Cosgriff, who had hosted the late night show in the middle weekend of the Adelaide Cabret Festival under the name There is Nothing Like a Game. Talking about the madness in the world and the madness in her thoughts, she takes to the piano and performs an unlikely, but still fitting, song, her own unique take on “Round the twist” with the chorus:
“Have you ever, ever felt like this?
Have strange things happened,
Are you going round the twist?”
The audience was delighted and laughed at this surprising, unpredictable song choice. Cosgriff would interrupt the verse to share random thoughts that she had including for games you could play, such as is it birth control or crypto. Equal parts absurd and sharp, Cosgriff’s segment had the crowd laughing and wondering what she’d say, or sing, next.
Michael Griffiths takes to the piano now and Virginia Gay declares that it’s game time. Her assistant for the night will be Jolalan, who is so named because she accidentally read his name out like that at the Variety Gala two years ago and it has stuck. The game we will play is work out the song, and when you have worked it out, put your hand up, come up on stage and do the dance. The audience then decide who the winner of each round will be. If you’ve ever wondered when you would hear Macarena, Gangnam Style, and Eagle Drop back to back, the 25th Birthday Party is it.
Our next guest is the wonderful Libby O’Donovan, who did not have a show in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival this year. Introducing her, Virginia says that she has been incredibly supportive and was on standby to host both this show and the gala if Virginia’s recently poor health didn’t permit. You could really feel Virginia’s appreciation and love for her as she introduced her. Libby O’Donovan always delights audiences with such a powerful voice in a tiny stature and this performance was no different!
She performed a belting version of It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, and then At Last, which started off normal enough, before a change of pianist mid song to Ciara Ferguson for some jazz piano, and some scatting, and then a hilarious Broken Hill accented version of At Last which she warned us was “not out of tune, just Australian.” If you’ve ever wondered why you don’t hear Australian accents in songs more often, this will very quickly answer the question for you. What followed was a deliberately butchered, hilariously nasal Broken Hill-accented take on At Last, a comic twist that had the crowd in stitches, even if Etta James may have rolled in her grave.
Keeping the energy high, Virginia returned to the stage for a cult classic Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Michael Griffiths surprising her by joining in on some of the other lines. Then as with all raucous parties, there is a visit from the police – Tara Boom and David Pereira from La Clique, who brought absolute chaos, pill popping, champagne guzzling, and stripping causing confusion and bemusement in the audience. While the act certainly amped up the mayhem, the “party broken up by police” trope felt a little clichéd and didn’t quite gel with the tone of the rest of the show.
Next up is Michelle Brasier, who was in 2 shows at Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2025: Comedians On Stage Auditioning for Musicals and Average Bear. She delivers a gutsy version of 4 Non blondes’ What’s Up, aptly almost screaming at the top of her lungs, what’s going on. She makes full use of the stage, even lying back on the piano belting out the song at one point. It’s then Michael Griffiths turn to star, singing Tainted Love and involving the audience encouraging them to join in the chorus. He interrupts mid-song for a surprise thank you for Virginia Gay from the production team, which clearly does actually surprise Virginia and we think maybe even brought a tear to her eyes.
Before closing the show, Virginia Gay grew solemn. She reflected on the terrifying state of the world and declared that the more dangerous it becomes to speak out, the more vital it is to do so. Introducing her final number as a tribute to the courage it takes to sing in darkness, she brought out Tim Lancaster on guitar for We Raise Our Cups from Hadestown the musical. As she wove slowly through the crowd, meeting audience members’ eyes, she was joined for the final chorus by the Class of Cabaret—dotted around the Banquet Room, each holding a candle in the dark. With lyrics like:
Some birds sing when the sun shines bright
Our praise is not for them
But the ones who sing in the dead of night
We raise our cups to them
it was a haunting and heartfelt close to the 25th Birthday Party. A sobering end, perhaps, but a fitting one—celebrating not just cabaret’s joy, but its power, its community, and the courage it calls forth.
We would have loved to see Reuben Kaye make an appearance, especially after his announcement the night before as Artistic Director for 2026. Somehow, even at 100 minutes, the show didn’t feel long enough but that’s because as all the best parties do, it ended too soon.
25th Birthday Party was a wild, wonderful goodbye that left hearts full and eyes misty. We now eagerly await the 2026 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
4 CROISSANTS
Matilda Marseillaise was a guest of Adelaide Cabaret Festival
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